11
Traveller reviews from Holiday Watchdog

Great for a short stay

"A lovely, clean and affordable place, ideal for a one night stay. We stopped here on New Years eve for a night out in Manchester.

The room was lovely and modern.

The best thing was the location as Manchester centre was only a 5 to 10 min walk.

The staff were friendly and helpful and we enjoyed the breakfast."

Holiday details

Travel date: Sat 1st of December 2018

Rating breakdown

5
Location

4
Room

4
Service

4
Amenities

4
Value

4
Food

4
Cleanliness

Never again

1

Awful

by Thomas H

Reviewed Sat 29th of November 2008

"My family and I recently had a weekend break in Manchester to celebrate another family members 50th birthday. We were all very excited about the occassion but unfortunately our weekend break was totally ruined by our decision to stay at the Stay Inn Hotel which is located just off the city's central area.
It all began from the moment we walked through the door. Firstly, at check-in, we were greeted by a really quite horrible elderly gentleman who treated us with very little respect and made us feel unwelcome. So from the very beginning we were disgusted at the service here.
We were a party of 3, two adults and one child and we had booked a family room. When we arrived we were swiftly told that we only had a reservation for a twin room. After some time, we were informed that our daughter would have to sleep on a mattress on the floor, but shockingly for the price of a family room. We were appalled at this treatment.
When we got to the room which we had to find ourselves, it was far too small for our needs and smelt badly of cigarette smoke. We thought it was a non-smoking hotel. Our daughter suffers from asthma so this was not a good situation to find ourselves in.
In the evening, the hotel was full of drunk football fans who were shouting and screaming into the early hours of the night. After little sleep we awoke to find that the breakfast was very poor and was very over-priced at an additional Â£7.25 per person. This was enough for us so we decided to cut our losses and check-out 2 nights early.
As we were leaving, we were then told by the same grumpy old man that checked us in (amazingly he was the hotel's manager), that our car had been broken into during the night in the hotel's car park. We were told that we had invited this trouble on ourselves and that it was our own fault for having sat nav in the car. There were no apologies offered by the elderly gentleman and we were getting extremely upset by the whole experience. We have never met such a grumpy, rude and cold person in all our lives. He showed no emotion or remorse for us at all and we would recommend that anyone thinking of staying here to steer well clear of this hotel. Anyone who runs a hotel in this way doesn't deserve success and this man needs lessons on how to run a business. The whole hotel had a feeling of misery which came from the poor souls that had to work under the direction of this man. This hotel doesn't belong in the vibrant city of Manchester.
"

Holiday details

Travel date: Sat 29th of November 2008

Fantastic location if you are attending...

4

Good

by M JÂ Payne

Reviewed Wed 30th of May 2007

"Fantastic location if you are attending a concert at the Manchester MEN. We stayed there for one night and walked from the hotel to the concert venue in 10mins .

The hotel has the added bonus of onsite parking .

The rooms are very basic but have everything that you need for a short stay. "

Holiday details

Travel date: Wed 30th of May 2007

Worse Experience ever!!!

1

Awful

by Jersegirlie

Reviewed Mon 26th of November 2012

"Well where to start....I booked sometime ago to spend 3 nights here with my teenage son(as part of his birthday gift,so we could go shopping and visit Old trafford etc)).The bedroom was tiny and if your a size 8 and under then youd just about fit in the shower!!!toilet etc all in the same room and the floor got soaked every time we showered.We had a room facing the main road so this was very noisy the room was hot and stuffy even without the heating on and also we were woken by clubbers returning to the stay inn hotel @4am who decided to chat on the landing outside our room.There was no telephone in the bedroom and as a female i did not think it was safe to ask the men to be quiet who were having a very loud conversation for over an hour. right outside our bedroom door!!!When i told staff the following day i was fobbed off saying this was normal behaviour at weekends here in this hotel and that staff will not ask people to be quiet as they have been drinking!!! I also asked for 4 extra pillows(2each) and 2 towels and was told this may not be possible.I was however given 2 pillows eventually.The bedroom was dirty and the beds do not have a proper base and under my sons bed was a large amount of broken glass!!!The food in the restaurant was very basic and extremely expensive and also so smokey even in the non smoking area.My friend also arranged to come and see me with her 7 month old baby.She booked a room and requested a cot.However on checking in she was told there was no cot and it would not be available until 21.30 or even later as it was in the boot of a car and another staff member had gone off with the keys!!!for one this is not a hygenic way to store a baby cot and two its disgusting to expect a small baby to have to wait because the one night Â£60 booking was not correct.this totally ruined our day and my friend had no choice but to leave and drive home with the baby late into the night!!! I DO NOT reccomend this hotel...On leaving i tried to get some money out of the cash machine on the hotel premises but the machine was out of order.I asked the guy at reception could i write a cheque along with my cheque guarantee card and was told that they do not accept personal cheques and that i could use my switch but would be charged a fee to give me cash.I had no choice as i was on my way to the airport(Thank God)and therefore had to pay the taxi.Id also like to add that the taxi cost me Â£28 to The Stay Inn Manchester on Friday 2/3/07 collecting us from manchester airport at 14.00(approx 20 min journey) and on returning on 5/3/07 it cost Â£17 at midday...how bizarre is that!!!i was ripped off.I will not be returning to THE STAY INN MANCHESTER...I spent just under Â£180 for the 3 nights and it was worse hotel ive ever experienced l!!!The staff were not bothered at all and i did not complain until we had the problem with my friend and the cot etc on Sunday 4/3/07 as i really do not like to moan....hey ho....im glad to be home.Never Again!!!.....PS vaction time from the room is 11.30am i was just about to leave and had a knock on the door at 11.32 am to ask was i going!!!Manners maketh man!!!but this place clearly needs a lot of lessons from all aspects of the hospitality trade.The End..............."

Holiday details

Travel date: Mon 5th of March 2007

Ok for a ngiht

3

Average

by hebby

Reviewed Wed 12th of December 2012

"Stayed here overnight New Years Eve as I was going to a party in in the middle of Manchester.

Very well priced costing Â£58 for a double room and in a good location for walking to town whilst also having free parking. Other hotels of same standard were charging over Â£100 for the night.

Hotel was clean, but old fashioned and tired - bashes on the inside of bedroom door - the toilet/shower was the smallest I had ever seen!

In terms of the actual location, it is a bit disconcerting to see a large perimer fence around the car park and signs saying that there are often 'unwelcome visitors' in the car park.

Overall, not somewhere I'd choose to stay but if there are no other options it is a good enough place."

Holiday details

Travel date: Tue 2nd of January 2007

Adequate for a short stay

3

Average

by Noelvegas

Reviewed Wed 12th of December 2012

"We stayed in the Stay Inn Manchester for two nights while the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) were in town.

I think the price (Â£47) for a twin room is quite reasonable for a hotel this close to the city centre. The location is ideal for those planning to attend an event at the Manchester Evening News Arena which is about 8 mins walking distance from the hotel.

The hotel has a small bar/restaurant on site which is nice and the staff seemed helpful enough.

The room itself (217) was on the small side with two single beds which weren't the most comfortable. There was a small tv in the room with approx 10 channels and tea/coffee making facilities.

The bathroom was very small and looked much older than the rest of the hotel.

Certainly not the best hotel in Manchester but probably not the worst either, ideally for those planning a short stay or to take in an event at the MEN arena"

Holiday details

Travel date: Wed 15th of November 2006

Not a family room!

1

Awful

by sam260677

Reviewed Thu 1st of November 2012

"Booked a family room for one night as I have a young baby and an eleven year old boy. When we got there, the cot hadnt been ordered, and the woman seemed to think my daughter didnt need a cot! It was only when I insisted that she got one for me. The room was tiny with a single bed going over the top of the double bed!This was not told to me upon booking, you can imagine the noise all night as my son moved around above us. The bathroom was dirty with only a shower (no bath like you get as standard in a travel lodge) and overall not a very nice place. We skipped breakfast as it was extremely overpriced, and ate at weatherspoons for Â£1.99! Never again, if you want to stay in Manchester stay at the Premier Travel Inn up the road, cheaper price and absolute luxury, Ive stayed at the Hilton kensington and the Premier is on par with it."

ideal for m.e.n. arena

Holiday details

Travel date: Wed 17th of May 2006

Good location

5

Brilliant

by A TripAdvisor Member

Reviewed Thu 1st of November 2012

"I was quite impressed with the quality of the hotel. It's literally a 5 minute walk from the city centre which is great for a bit of fresh air.
The breakfast was amazing; the staff were extremely helpful."

Holiday details

Travel date: Wed 15th of February 2006

OK for the price

3

Average

by A TripAdvisor Member

Reviewed Tue 20th of November 2012

"The Stay Inn is cheap (for Manchester), relatively close to the city centre and the rooms are clean if basic. Service is slow, parking is free. There really isn't much more to say - it fits in to the Ibis / UK Travelodge level of accomodation and is completely unexceptional, but there are plenty of worse places to stay if you're stuck."

Holiday details

Travel date: Sun 2nd of January 2005

Fine for what it is.

3

Average

by PirateDave

Reviewed Tue 20th of November 2012

"All we wanted was a cheap clean hotel to stay in, with parking. That is what exactly what we got, staff were polite and friendly, they let us keep our car on the secure carpark the next day (which would have cost Â£5-10 on the NCP car parks). Rooms are clean and simple, ensuite shower very powerful.

This is cheaper (it cost us Â£55 for a triple room as they had run out of double rooms) than most other Manchester hotels, and from reading some of their reviews this is a double bonus!

I wouldn't exactly stop here for a relaxing break, it is too spartan and not in the right area of Manchester for that, but for a simple stop over it is fine. We used it so that we could catch an early train from Victoria station, about 10 - 15 minutes walk."